GLOW by abductedPlatypus

[raw]
made by abductedPlatypus for LD 39 (COMPO)

Instead of rating this one, go rescue some entries instead, and get them ranked! (Click me)

Collect the three icons hidden at the end of each cave an return home to restore power. However you can only progress through the dark with limited freedom, charge before you lose all power.

While you swim you convert your GLOW into magical bubbles. Hints below.

WebGL build is Post-Compo. This is emphasised on the menu, so it should be clear.

https://twitter.com/abductypus

https://youtube.com/watch?v=lCwNCkhoV4c

Made using: - Unity 5.6 - Visual Studio Code (very lightweight with great Unity support) - Illustrator - Photoshop - GarageBand (iOS and Mac) (I wrote a "short" blog post about it!) - Reaper - Pizza (Home made; Cooking is a great break!) While I did add some humor, it's very subtile so I opted out for it.

Screen Shot 2017-07-31 at 02.56.24 copy.png

Screen Shot 2017-07-31 at 02.56.24.png Hints:

  1. WASD, thats it.
  2. There are three icons (Bluetooth, Wifi and Volume, you know, basic needs) each as reward of its own area. Collect them and return home to restore your private light.
  3. Make sure you have enough light when travelling long distances and dangerous areas.
  4. Magic bubbles affect green stuff.
  5. Jellyfish shoot up when overloaded with bubbles.
  6. Evil Fish shrink when eating bubbles.

Windows Port

Sorted out issues with the Windows build (Took very long but physics interpolation in Unity windows builds seems broken.) I also renewed the macOS build because I optimized a lot (thinking that was the cause of the lag), supporting lower end macOS systems hopefully.


Timelapse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EdILENQbA8

Post-Mortem - with some tips and tricks
Part 1: Music From/For an Audio Noob
Part 2: Quick Polished Design
Part 3: Backlog, Feedback and Observations to Post-Compo

Ratings

Overall 34th 4.014⭐ 76🧑‍⚖️
Fun 229th 3.365⭐ 76🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 111th 3.635⭐ 76🧑‍⚖️
Theme 147th 3.838⭐ 76🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 15th 4.413⭐ 77🧑‍⚖️
Audio 8th 4.28⭐ 77🧑‍⚖️
Mood 9th 4.347⭐ 77🧑‍⚖️
Given 117🗳️ 60🗨️

Feedback

tinfoilboy
01. Aug 2017 · 04:02 UTC
Pretty cool idea for a game. I enjoyed the atmosphere around the game, the graphics, the sound, all that came together really well. I feel that the enemies (and the controls) were kind of wonky, and could be polished up a bit. Though, this was a really cool concept, and a really nice game for 48 hours, great job!
FloBar
01. Aug 2017 · 11:21 UTC
That's pretty damn good. Love the atmosphere you've created with the grey scale and colored lighting. Gives me ideas for my game. Well done.
xdegtyarev
01. Aug 2017 · 11:37 UTC
Great art, sound and atmosphere overall.Not a big fan of floaty controls, but still solid product. Great job!
sgt3v
01. Aug 2017 · 11:44 UTC
This is impressive, the ambience, atmosphere, color tones are just good. I had a bit problem with movement at first but handled it shortly, I was expecting rotate and move type of controls. Also if the player had movement animations that would be much much better. Great work!
franfox
01. Aug 2017 · 11:48 UTC
I love it! Nice visual ambient and the music implementation is awesome. Doing all this in 48 is f**** awesome 👍
Pip Turner
01. Aug 2017 · 12:01 UTC
Brilliant art, music, atmosphere, gameplay. Loved it all. Only improvement would be some movement tweaking and animation on creatures/ the player (would have looked so good!) but what a beautiful piece for two days!!!! Congrats.
Boxfort
01. Aug 2017 · 12:17 UTC
Very beautiful game and very atmospheric, the sound design really adds a lot!
Hilvon
03. Aug 2017 · 07:05 UTC
Wow! Just Wow... That game is amazing! One simplistich mechanics bring 3 different challenges, that are welll telegraphed to the player.
And the placement of rechargers is absolutely fantastic - they are spread wide where there is low chance to get hit by accident. But when there is a thin spot that is hard to get through without being hit - the reharger would be just in range.
And the savepoint system... It is nont-intrusive and helpful restoring you not far from where you were and not forcing you to replay the entire game. This do encourage to keep trying and as a result - I spen way more time in the game than I usually spend in jam-game... and I played it to completion!

The only two things are:

- it is not intuitively obvious to return to starting point after you collected all 3 goals. I did this during scouting the area "in case I missed something"
- "light seds" (that exelletly serve purpose of breadcrumbs during exploration phase) to not reset upon load. And this makes retrying a bit harder that the initial atempt. Not too much - the rechargers are really well placed, but if you have the seeds around it gives you a tad biger margin of error. And that makes initial and subsequant attempts slightly inconsistent.

Anyway - this is a perfect scone for me!
mrsylar59
03. Aug 2017 · 07:48 UTC
By far the best game I've played as of now! The gameplay is very intuitive. I had trouble getting passed the fish part, but the sound effects, the music and the overall mood of the game is so catchy that I wanted to finish. Congratulations for all the good work!
Hishicorne
03. Aug 2017 · 07:50 UTC
Wow, such a good, poetic game ! The graphics are realy cool (made me think of Limbo) !! Music is very cool ! And the gameplay is wonderfull, I like it very much !

The only problem is the difficulty level, or some interactions ("pacify" enemies or no pacify enemies ?) that are not very intuitive. Otherwise it's perfect !
Robinerd
03. Aug 2017 · 08:41 UTC
WOW! One of the best entries I've played in any LD.

![giphy-downsized.gif](///raw/1e4/2/z/87eb.gif)
Starlight Glimmer is best poney
03. Aug 2017 · 14:52 UTC
Linux build doesn't have a data folder, and you're shipping two 30 MiB executables; opt out of the 32-bit one completely.
🎤 abductedPlatypus
03. Aug 2017 · 15:10 UTC
Thank for the feedback guys! It really means a lot to me and will be used for a post-compo version!

@starlight-glimmer-is-best-poney Thanks for checking will see if I can fix it.
🎤 abductedPlatypus
03. Aug 2017 · 16:01 UTC
@starlight-glimmer-is-best-poney and other linux users: Uploaded a new version for linux.
grandtheftmarmot
04. Aug 2017 · 00:09 UTC
Wow! What an unbelievably atmospheric entry. Great job at creating that little world for other people to experience. Very immersive.
cudabear
04. Aug 2017 · 02:33 UTC
This was so much fun to play! I loved the exploration and the challenge of getting around enemies wasn't too bad. The game was beautiful in both audio and graphics, and really established a very surreal and chill mood. I'd love to play more if you plan on expanding this in the future!
Asofi
04. Aug 2017 · 08:07 UTC
Pleasant a lot!)
Maybe you can add control by mouse? Aim by mouse and move by click?
🎤 abductedPlatypus
04. Aug 2017 · 08:33 UTC
@asofi I assumed that wouldn't play very nicely, but I'll check it out for the post-compo version
Damoy
04. Aug 2017 · 09:19 UTC
Pretty good game ! The gameplay feels a little strange for me though. Absolutely loved the mood, graphics and the audio !! Well done :)
novotmike
05. Aug 2017 · 08:27 UTC
I cannot get over how amazing the graphics looks. It is beautiful and really helps to set the mood for the whole game. Music and sound effects were also very nice and helped the mood a lot. I also like your take on the theme - for a 48hour game this is really polished and nice!
Only thing I struggled with were controls - for me it was a bit difficult to master them during first few minutes of playing.

Overall this is an amazing job! Great game!
PavelSovushkin
05. Aug 2017 · 12:15 UTC
Looks great, but playing for bugs litle strange ...)) Kafka read it?
🎤 abductedPlatypus
05. Aug 2017 · 13:02 UTC
@pavalsovushkin Kafka was definitely something that went through my head designing the game! :D
Drums
07. Aug 2017 · 00:32 UTC
Such a smooth and beautiful game! I loved everything about it. A few squeeze-tight areas, but overall it was super unique and fun!
Fran Segura
08. Aug 2017 · 17:47 UTC
Beautiful game with some interesting mechanics inviting the player to experiment. Pretty amazing given the 48h time limit, congrats!
Phlip45
08. Aug 2017 · 18:01 UTC
The graphics, music, and sound effects are all really well done. The gameplay is a bit simple, but it feels more like you are exploring a world rather than creating a super technical platformer so it works well. The only thing I have negative to say about the game is that I did get trapped at one point, a recharger to my left, a bit of wall to my right, but I couldn't leave. I must have clipped into the wall at a perfect angle or something. I was playing on the web build. Other than that small hiccup though, everything about this game is well polished and fun to play.
unit684
08. Aug 2017 · 21:03 UTC
Great art style and overall game design. It was a nice fun chilled out experience at about the right length for a good jam game. Once you get the hang of the mechanics it's pretty enjoyable. Oh and the music is amazing too! Nice job :)

All I can think to add is new enemies and different things that are affected by bubbles. Maybe a gravity field where the bubbles go down or something? Some little animations for the player would be good too, the legs moving a bit as you go forward and stuff like that.
Yetman
08. Aug 2017 · 22:02 UTC
The dark mood was great; Art style, music and sfx really did the job. The game mechanics were fun and intuitive (at least for me). The interaction with bubble mechanics was nice and open the door for more stuff (e.g. water streams that takes bubbles to unreachable places... can't think of anything else right now). Overall, that was a really enjoyable game.
LeReveur
08. Aug 2017 · 22:03 UTC
I really like the idea of a bug restoring a connection :D
The colour inversion with green for danger and red for secure is surprising too.
It was an amazing journey to swim in this strange and oppressing world yet colored and hypnotic, looking for uncongruous items and avoiding frighting monsters. Thank you very much for this beautiful game, I'm happy having play it!
NORRIMO
09. Aug 2017 · 09:21 UTC
Hah the devilish disney green? :)
I'am really impressed by your great level design and the explanation through the game world how the game mechanics of the player works.
The only thing I not like is the movement with WASD. It was sometimes confusing for me. Maybe it could be better to control with the mouse? Try it. :D
Rahtainka
09. Aug 2017 · 15:46 UTC
Nice game!

### What I liked:
* The mood is fantastic, the music and the graphics fit good together
* The music creates a great atmosphere
* The art style is beautiful
* The checkpoints are useful, I like it if I hadn't to start at the very beginning when I make a mistake and die
* The level design is good
* For a compo entry it's really polished and have much content

### What could be improved:
* The controls, I didn't like it and it confused me in the beginning. It felt a little bit slow and clumsy.
* I wished to have a kind of indicator where to move for the icons, like an arrow or marker or something like this

Overall a very good compo entry and game. Well done!
thaaks
11. Aug 2017 · 19:32 UTC
Wonderful underwater atmosphere! Everything (theme, graphics, audio) are great - except controls ;-)
They ruined the gameplay for me.
But the rest is really amazing for a compo entry! Great stuff!
simonhutchinson
11. Aug 2017 · 20:20 UTC
Really nice graphics and sound. Awesome feel on the overall aesthetic. I'm not sure I have the patience to navigate through those long, tight, green corridors with the loose controls, but I totally get how the controls are part of the aesthetic that you have going on here.

Anyway awesome compo entry. Great work!
🎤 abductedPlatypus
12. Aug 2017 · 01:45 UTC
I really love the controls myself, but I understand they might feel a bit niche. But for the Post-Compo entry that will be released tomorrow __I have decided to part with my beloved controls__ for the better. :'( P.S. It also includes mouse controls, it seemed decent.

Edit: It's out!
Estebe
14. Aug 2017 · 20:40 UTC
Normally I'm having trouble getting into "artsy" games, but this one grabbed me from the beginning!

Everything fits together so coherently, it's just, I don't know, good you know.
Art (not even gonna call it graphics anymore), music, sounds, gameplay. Everything just, gells together so well.
The total atmosphere is so good I kept playing, despite the hard parts. Thankfully, you've employed checkpoints, as I'm sure I would've ragequit after a couple of deaths if you didn't.

The only, and I mean, only gripe I have are the icons. I just don't think those fit the rest of the game, other then collecting them.

All in all, truly excellent game! Stellar job!
Estebe
14. Aug 2017 · 20:40 UTC
Sorry, trigger finger. Can someone delete this? I can't.
bellatrion
14. Aug 2017 · 20:49 UTC
Awesome graphics, audio and atmosphere. The game is very pleasant to play :3
josehzz
14. Aug 2017 · 22:21 UTC
Graphics wise its amazing. I think the controls are a little bit clunky but overall a great experience.
Belga54
14. Aug 2017 · 22:41 UTC
I enjoyed, liked and loved the atmosphere of the game and the atmospheric ****music(5/5)**** ! The ****graphics(5/5)**** are so beautiful ! ONE of the best entries. Congrats. A+
SaraMartins
15. Aug 2017 · 05:13 UTC
Amazing game, loved the mood and experience! Great minimalist art, nice complementing music that didn't disrupt the gameplay, and very clever gameplay. I just missed being able to use the Arrows in addition to WASD :P but that doesn't take away from the experience. Hope you are able to think and maybe turn this into a bigger game and release it. Great job!
Mathiouza
15. Aug 2017 · 14:16 UTC
Really cool experience ! Loved the mood, art style and sounds are awesome. Nothing to add, congrats :)
Piotrek
17. Aug 2017 · 22:02 UTC
Really nice graphics especially as for compo. The gameplay was really fun. Great entry.
Michael Feldman
18. Aug 2017 · 20:50 UTC
Hey man, nice game. I liked the part where you run into the light orbs and it dings different notes. LIke putting composition into the hands of the user. Love the light effects. Especially the intro, and the little screws.
Favorite part is the movement. It's just fun and it fits the character perfect. Like you could build up a whole world around that little spider dude as he floats and drifts from place to point. Good job.
Strega
19. Aug 2017 · 20:59 UTC
Cool exploration game. I liked the glow effects and art. The audio fit very well. I did get stuck on geometry sometimes where I couldn't move and just had to struggle to run out of power :(
DDRKirbyISQ
19. Aug 2017 · 21:27 UTC
(I played the webgl post-compo version)

Really awesome! The aesthetic is really nice here, and I appreciate the consistent visual language you used throughout. The pacing was relatively slow but I think that's actually not inappropriate given the nature of the game. I do think that the energy-sucking worm enemy section was a bit more trivial (non-interactive?) compared to the other two caves, so that would be my main complaint.

Also, congrats and thank you on giving 100 ratings :D
KiiroHanabi
19. Aug 2017 · 21:45 UTC
Interesting concept, I will go back on several points :

- Graphics : Quite pure, lot of dark/light opposition that represents well the deep sea, and good effects too.


- Controls : I liked the controls, it forces the player to anticipate the speed and the direction before the execution to have smooth movement across the level, I don't know if I could have enjoyed a longer game with that speed but for three levels it was good.


- Level design : Good level design, lead the player to the areas by making trails of energy, at each level showing them the danger and the gameplay in safe places, then putting a harder part that is the real challenge and once it's done having a shortcut to the central place. That's probably the part I prefer the most in this game. It may stick a little bit to the rules, but it definitely works well.


- Audio : The audio was fitting, but I expected something more. I get that aquatic calm vibe but I think it just slows down the game even more. Like after playing a few minutes I can't remember any part of the audio. I would have rather chosen a music that would be a bit more melodic (without having a full orchestra, just setting the atmosphere is enough) and a rhythm that would motivate the player to progress through the map. I just saw an aquatic creature losing its three babies in the ocean, I'm not gonna swim quietly through the water, I'm gonna fight for them if I need to!

The critique may sounds quite harsh but it is really because I see a lot of potential in what you do. For example I don't know your audio skills and I wouldn't be able to do that, especially in 48 hours so I hope that it will push you further in the creation process!!
Tim Eriksen
20. Aug 2017 · 07:53 UTC
Interesting game! I really liked the graphics, and the audio suited the game well. The controls felt a bit awkward at first as I expected more of a "Astroids" kind of movement (boosting and rotating separately) when I saw the low friction movement, but then I quickly got used to it, so it is not a big problem at all. Well done!
LeviDSmith
20. Aug 2017 · 09:07 UTC
There really didn't seem to be much to it aside from collecting the circles to keep your bug moving. The bug really seemed lifeless and could have used some animation. The music and sound effects seemed fine.
🎤 abductedPlatypus
20. Aug 2017 · 12:34 UTC
@levidsmith I'm not sure you played the game long enough to be able to give a proper conclusion, there is a whole lot more than just collecting circles, as you can read from most other reviews...

Don't get me wrong, negative feedback teaches me more. But for that I need feedback from past the first 30 seconds of the game. The only conclusion I can get from this is to update the game to guide players a bit better in the beginning, for the few people that need that I added a short video and some hints. Please play games a bit more thoroughly. While I have enough feedback, others might need feedback that's a bit beyond the first 30 seconds of the game.
sparewizard
20. Aug 2017 · 16:10 UTC
Great game!

An option for gamepad would be appreciated, so you could move smoothly between directions.
yuigoto
21. Aug 2017 · 03:10 UTC
The game's visual style, with this vignette effect and dark, grey, tones, kinda reminded a bit of limbo, saved for the neon colors of the power ups and enemies, really nice work on that! Although there's not animation for mobs and the player character itself, it's not something that affects the game, just a minor detail.

The soundtrack and effects complete the atmosphere of the game nicely and blend with the style of the game to create some great mood too! :D

The controls were really easy to get, and manoeuvering in the labyrinth proved a bit challenging too, as giving the bubbles to some of the jellyfish (that top part was the first I went to, without reading much of the instructions, and proved quite a challenge :P).

Really did enjoy playing! Great work there, sir! ;)
LarryChupacabra
22. Aug 2017 · 20:59 UTC
Really great entry. Feels like one of the most complete packages of the entries Ive played so far in the Jam. You've got a touch of story that gives our bug companion a reason to seek out all of the creature comforts of life. The theme of running out of power was embedded in every aspect of the game, from needing food to interacting via bubbles with the environment. Really good stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJUjtYyZRuA
buttonmasherbros
29. Aug 2017 · 16:09 UTC
You have been featured in todays LUDUM DARE TO BELIEVE! Check it out - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NkXaNkcl18
Jupiter_Hadley
08. Sep 2017 · 15:37 UTC
Wonderful game! I included it in my Ludum Dare 39 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiayEbHjWUc